Three's Company
by shootingstar46
Summary: Chandler, Monica, and Ross have to go to Chicago because of a family tragedy. Rachel and Joey have to watch their(C&M) 3 kids and...run into some problems along the way!! Please R/R!FYI-Sry about the confusion with the names in ch. 5, it's fixed now!!!ed
1. Rachel and Joey To The Rescue

I don't own any of the characters in this story except the 3 kids. Hello people! FYI- for this fic, you kinda have to pretend Monica and Ross' parents live in Chicago, that's why it's called fanFICTION. So anyway...please R/R!!!  
  
  
  
"Rachel, I have a really big favor to ask you." Monica said as Rachel walked in, her face tear-stained.  
  
"Sure, Mon, anything, what's wrong?" She looked concerned. Monica wasn't one to cry easily, so she knew this had to be big.  
  
"My mother had a heart-attack and she's not doing well. Ross, Chandler, and I are going to Chicago to see her. I was wondering if you and Joey would mind watching the kids while we're gone. If it's too much trouble, we can take them with us but…" Her eyes welled up.  
  
"Monica, of course we can watch them for you." She interrupted.  
  
"I don't know how long we'll be gone, but I think she really needs me there."  
  
"I understand Mon, it's fine." She hugged her soothingly.  
  
"Thank-you so much, Rachel." She let out a sigh of relief, glad she would always have someone to count on when she was in trouble.  
  
"Are you sure you can handle this though? I mean, three kids is a lot."   
  
"Positive. They're always great for me." She smiled in confirmation.  
  
"Do you think Joey will mind?" She wiped the tears from her face.  
  
"Are you kidding me?" Rachel laughed. "Dylan is the only one that'll watch Cartoon Network with him. Joey loves to watch the kids. If it wasn't for them, he'd have no one to play with." They giggled. "Speaking of whom, I should go break the news to him." Rachel suggested.  
  
"Okay…thanks again, Rach. This really means a lot to me." Rachel smiled and left the apartment.  
  
"Joey!" She shouted, entering the apartment.  
  
"Hey, Rach." He greeted her. "What's up?"  
  
"Well, I have some good news and some bad news." She announced. "The bad news is Monica and Ross' mom had a heart attack the today." She paused, noticing Joey's concerned expression. "The good news is while they are in Chicago we get to baby-sit." She grinned.  
  
"Poor Mon. Is she okay?" He asked.  
  
"She's a little shaken up, but I think she's handling it pretty well, considering the circumstances, anyway."  
  
"That's good." He paused. "So we get to watch the kids huh?" His eyes widened.  
  
"Yep." She confirmed, amused by his childish excitement. "You really love those kids don't you?"  
  
"Of course I do…I mean who else is going to play Barbie with me other than Madi?" He joked. Rachel chuckled.  
  
  
  
"So how long are they going to be gone?" He inquired.  
  
"I don't know. I'm just going to give her all the time she needs. She's pretty upset over it."  
  
***The Next Day***  
  
"Mommy, where are you going?" A little girl poked her head through the door as Monica was frantically shoving clothes into her suitcase  
  
"What are doing up so early?" Monica smiled, scooping her up into her arms. The child stared at her, waiting for a reply to her previous inquiry. "Well, Madi, Grandma is very sick and Mommy and Daddy are going to see her to help her get better. Uncle Ross is coming too." She tried to explain the situation to her four year old daughter without crying.  
  
"Can I come too?" She asked, her eyes lighting up with the idea of going on a trip.  
  
"No sweetie. You're going to stay here with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Joey." She tried to smile through her tears.   
  
"Yeah!" She shouted. She loved spending time with Joey and Rachel. After a pause, Madi noticed Monica's tears. "Mommy, why are you crying?"  
  
"I'm just scared for Grandma sweetie." She explained.  
  
"I hope she feels better." The child said.  
  
"Me too." She whispered, kissing her cheek, touched by her sensitivity. She wiped away the tears form her eyes. "Why don't you go out into the kitchen and ask Daddy to fix you some breakfast?" She suggested.  
  
"Okay, Mommy." She jumped out of Monica's arms and hurriedly scurried out of the bedroom.  
  
"Daddy, I'm hungry." She squealed impatiently.  
  
"Madeleine, you are just going to have to wait until I am done feeding Blake!" He scolded her for the third time, this time with frustration in his tone. She folded her arms and grunted in protest.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity to the child, Chandler set down the bottle and placed the tiny sleeping baby in the bassinet. "Now can I get some breakfast?" She asked impatiently. He couldn't help but chuckle at the little girl's temper.  
  
Once all three kids were fed, bathed and dressed, Chandler and Monica marched them over to Rachel and Joey's apartment.  
  
"Hey guys." Joey greeted them when he opened the door.  
  
Dylan drowsily stumbled through the door and made his way to the couch where Chandler had laid Blake down to sleep. Madi immediately jumped into Rachel's arms. "Aunt Rachel! Can you paint my nails!?!" She asked excitedly.  
  
"We'll miss you too!" Monica shouted sarcastically to the kids who hadn't even bothered to say good-bye. "Okay, Joey, here's the diaper bag. It has a few things you'll need, but here's the key to our apartment. Whenever you need something, feel free to come in and get it. And here's a list of numbers. This is the hotel, this is our cell, this is the family doctor…" She explained every solitary detail; a typical over-protective parent.  
  
"Okay, I guess we better go or we're going to miss our flight." Chandler tried to pry Monica from her lists. "Thanks again!" He smiled.   
  
"Wait!" Madi shouted and jumped into her father's arms before they left. "I love you daddy." She whispered. Chandler felt his heart melt. He loved his kids so much and it touched him to know they felt the same way.   
  
"I love you too, honey." He smiled. Dylan hugged his mother and then they switched. Then, Chandler and Monica kissed Blake lightly, so as not to wake him form his peaceful slumber.  
  
"Bye, sweetie." Monica sobbed, upset to be parting from her kids this long for the first time.  
  
"Don't cry, Mommy." Madeleine kissed her mother's cheek.  
  
Chandler put his arm around Monica, knowing it must be hard on her to leave her kids like this. He shut the door, smiling once more at the kids  
  
  
  
Sooooo…what do you think? Kinda slow at first I know, but it'll get better, so R/R and I'll be more inspired to get ch. 2 up sooner!!. 


	2. Day 1

"NO FAIR!!! AUNT RACHEL, DYLAN WONT LET ME PLAY WITH HIM!" Madeleine shouted.  
  
"Hey what's going on over here?" Joey entered from the bedroom.  
  
"Dylan won't let me play with his dolls!" The short-tempered girl pouted with her arms folded, sticking her tongue out at her brother.  
  
"They're not dolls, they're action figures!" His rolled his eyes at her.  
  
"Okay, okay, calm down little munchkins!" Joey insisted. "Madi can play with your action figures if she wants. I have an idea. Madi, you can be this vampire right here..." He began, holding up one of the toys. "and you can suck the blood of all of the other people and...." He continued with his plan that was obviously working as he saw Madeleine's expression.  
  
"EEEEWWW!! I don't want to play that!" She twisted her face in disgust as she walked away.  
  
"See, Dylan. That, is how you get rid of your little sister." Joey grinned.   
  
A few minutes later Rachel and Madi emerged from Rachel's bedroom with their coats on. Madi was carrying a small sequined purse.  
  
"Hey, where are YOU going?" Dylan inquired.  
  
"Madeleine and I are going out." Rachel stated simply, as part of Madi's revenge for the whole action figure incident.  
  
"Hey! I wanna come!" He whined as they were about to shut the door behind them.  
  
"That's not fair because I couldn't play with your toys!" Madeleine chimed in.  
  
"No, you didn't want to play!" He retorted.  
  
"Okay, Dylan you can come with us." Rachel said as Madi's mouth dropped open with a gasp.  
  
"Besides, I found the perfect outfit we could get you." She smiled.  
  
"Really?" His eyes brightened.  
  
"Oh, yes. It's just beautiful. It's bright pink with lots of lace."   
  
"EEEEWW! That sounds like a girlie outfit!" He shouted.  
  
"Okay, suit yourself." Rachel commented as her and Madi left the apartment.  
  
"And that, Madeleine, is how you get rid of you brother." She informed her with a grin.  
  
"Hey Madi!" Phoebe yelled as she held out her arms for a hug.  
  
"Hey Aunt Phoebe! Guess what?" She shouted excitedly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Me and Dylan and Blake are staying with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Joey because mommy and daddy had to go see grandma." She smiled.  
  
"Wow! That is so cool!" She screamed back in excitement of Madeleine's news, while glancing at Rachel with a questioning look.  
  
"Uhhhh...Madi, how bout we all go to McDonald's for lunch?" She suggested.  
  
"Yeah!" She yelped.  
  
As Madeleine played in the ball pit, Rachel explained to Phoebe why the kids were staying with her.  
  
"No fair! I want em to stay with me!" Phoebe pouted.  
  
"Well, we didn't want to disturb you during your weekend with Tom upstate in the mountains." She grinned.  
  
"Yeah, it's Tim." She corrected her.  
  
"Right, Tim, sorry. But anyway, you can still come over anytime, it's not like we couldn't use the help. Taking care of three kids is not easy." She admitted.   
  
"Aunt Phobe! Aunt Phoebe! There is a pet store over there!" Madeleine panted as she ran to the table from the play place. "Can we go see the kitties?! PLEEZE!!" She begged.  
  
"Sure." They agreed, gathering their coats. Madeleine jumped up and down in excitement and grabbed each of their hands , dragging them near the pet shop.  
  
"OOH! OOOH! I wanna hold that one!" She waved her finger at the cage. Once the kitten made its way into her arms, she pet it gently as it purred. "I wish I could keep you. I would play with you everyday and feed you." She smiled as the cat nuzzled her gently.  
  
"Awww...that is so sweet!" Phoebe said.   
  
"I know. I remember I wanted a cat when I was her age but my dad wouldn' t let me have one. I cried for weeks. You should've seen how cute that little thing was." She smiled in retrospect. "You know what, I'm goning to buy her the cat."  
  
"Oooooh...Monica's gonna kill you."Phoebe warned her.  
  
"Come on, how much harm could a cute little creature like that do? Besides, I still have the litter box and toys from I had that cat a few years ago."  
  
"Okay, but when Monica's swinging a baseball bat in your face, just remember I tried to talk you out of it." She joked.  
  
"Uncle Joey! Look what Aunt Rahcel got me!" She held the small cat up so he could see.  
  
"Wow!" He tried to sound excited as he fathomed Monica's reaction. "Hahaha." He shook his head at Rahcel's stupidity as he walked by her.  
  
"Oh, would you stop!" She glared at him.  
  
"Aunt Rachel did you get ME anything?" Dylan hinted.  
  
"Well, Uncle Joey is going to take you out tomorrow, okay?" The little boy smiled and went back to playing with his toys.  
  
"Hahaha." Rachel mocked Joey as she walked by him. 


	3. The Phone Call

"I'll get it!" Rachel shouted over the cartoon as she sprinted through the apartment.  
  
"Hello?" She picked up the phone.  
  
"Hey Rach!" Monica shouted excitedly. "How are the kids doing?"   
  
"They're great." She began.  
  
"Aunt Rachel, is that MOMMY?!" Madeleine hopped up and down in enthusiasm. Rachel nodded as she attempted to talk to Monica over her begging. "I wanna talk! I wanna talk! Oh, please, please lemme talk to mommy!" She shouted, tugging on Rachel's shirt.  
  
"Oh, you know what, Madi is standing right here, and I think she just might have a heart attack if I don't let her talk to you...so here she is." She chuckled and handed the phone to Madi.  
  
"HI MOMMY!" She yelled into the phone.  
  
"Hi sweetie! Are you having fun with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Joey?"  
  
"Yeah, we went to the park and we saw a movie!" Rachel grinned and heard the oven timer go off. She waked into the kitchen to take the roast out of the oven.  
  
"And..." Madeleine announced. "Guess what Aunt Rachel bought me?"  
  
Rachel heard this and sprinted over to Madeleine to try to stop her, but it was too late.  
  
"She bought me a kitty!" She screamed in excitement. Rachel gasped and clutched her forehead as she heard Monica's screaming through the phone. Joey just laughed. Rachel glared at him.  
  
"What? Did you really think she wasn't going to find out?" He asked.  
  
"Well, no. But I was just hoping to live until they got back anyway."   
  
"Aunt Rachel, mommy wants to talk to you." Madeleine handed her the phone.  
  
"Hey Mon. So...how's your mom?" She unsuccessfully tried to change the subject.  
  
"You bought my daughter a cat? A live cat? Are you crazy?" She shouted mercilessly.  
  
"Oh, come on, Monica. Is it really that bad?" She tried to calm her down.  
  
"Of course it's that bad! Cats leave furballs everywhere and their litterboxes smell and they walk on the table!"   
  
"Well if it's that big of a deal, I'll just keep it for her over here, at our apartment." She suggested.  
  
"Okay, okay that might work." She panted.  
  
"Okay."   
  
"So can I talk to Dylan?" She requested once she had clamed down.  
  
"Sure. Hang on. DYLAN! YOUR MOTHER WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!" She shouted, hoping the noise would be enough to rip his eyes from the nintendo game.  
  
"Hi mommy!" He grabbed the phone. "When are you coming home?"  
  
"Soon, I hope." She lied, knowing that considering the condition her mother was in, it could be a while.  
  
"Okay, I have to go. Me and Joey are playing video games and I beat him at three in a row!" He exclaimed in pride.  
  
"Wow! Good job, buddy! Do you want to talk to your daddy before you go?"  
  
"Sure." He sighed, as if it was some chore to take thirty seconds out of his schedule to talk to his father.  
  
"Hey, Dylan. How are ya?" Chandler asked excitedly.  
  
"Good." He tried to keep it short so he could get back to his game.  
  
"Well from what I understand you're in the middle of a game so I'll let you go."   
  
"Okay, bye." He handed the phone to Rachel and scurried into Joey's room to play the video game.  
  
"They miss you terribly." Rachel joked.  
  
"Yeah, I can tell." Chandler laughed. "So how's Blake?"  
  
"Oh, he's great. OH! I almost forgot to tell you! Blake said his first word today!" She shouted into the phone.  
  
"Really? That is so great!" Chandler exclaimed. "What did he say?"  
  
"No. It was so cute. Hang on, I'll see if I can get him to say it for you." She picked up the baby and held him up to the phone.   
  
'Mon, come here. Blake can talk! Listen to this!" He shared the phone with her so she could listen.  
  
Chandler could hear a muffled Rachel coaching him in the background. "C'mon, Blake. You can do it. 'no' say 'no'."  
  
"No." the baby mumbled and grinned at Rachel's excitement.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Did you hear him?" Rachel shouted.  
  
"Oh, my God, I can't believe he talked!" Chandler exclaimed.  
  
"I know!" Rachel laughed.  
  
"Hey can I talk to Madeleine?" Chandler requested.  
  
"Sure." She replied. "Madi! Your dad wants to talk to you."  
  
Madi galloped over and took the phone from her. "Daddy! I miss you so much! Can you come home now?" She pleaded.  
  
"I'm sorry, honey. I wish I could, but grandma is very sick. As soon as she gets better, I promise mommy and I will be back as soon as we can...with presents!" He added.  
  
"Yeah!" Her disappointment immediately transformed into excitement once she heard the word 'presents'.  
  
"Bye sweetie!" Chandler said.  
  
"Bye, daddy." She laid down the phone. 


	4. Homesick

"Monica, what is it? I barley got to talk to the kids." He hung up the phone, wondering what couldn't wait five more minutes so he could speak to his daughter. Monica had been nagging at him ever since he picked up the reciever.  
  
"The doctor's here." She tugged his shirt toward the hospital room where her mother had just been returned to after her surgery. Monica was practically in tears as she saw the grave expression on the doctor's face. 'Oh, my God.' She thought silently to herself. Outside, she was trying to hold herself together, but inside, she felt like she could die. Sh ewas afraid of what the doctor would tell her. In those few second that seemed to last an eternity, she comtmeplated what he might be about to tell them. 'Is she going to die? What if they can't help her? What if...'  
  
"Are you Monica bing?" The doctor solemnly questioned as she entered the room, interrupting her thoughts.  
  
"Yes, I am. What's going on? Is she okay?" She panted in apprehension.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the bypass surgery wasn't as successful as we'd hoped." He admitted regrettably.  
  
"Oh, God." She buried her face in Chandler's chest.   
  
"Mrs. Bing, we do have one other option." She looked at him with bright and hopeful eyes. "Unfortuantely..." He began again as Monica's joy turned to fear. "there is some risk involved."  
  
"What kind of risk?" Chandler inquired.  
  
"Well, very rarely is it fatal..." Monica covered her mouth with her hand as tears immediately filled her eyes. "but often," He continued. "there is permanent damage. This type of procedure is very rarely used because the bypass is about 98% effective. It just so happens, this time you didn't fall into that category. But since we haven't used this procedure frequently, we haven't mastered it. It's a very tedious procedure and we can't guarantee anything. Depending on certain circumstances, it could permanately damage nerves, and even if we are successful, we can't guarantee the problem won't recur. I'm sorry, I know this must be very hard for you, but we don't really have any other options." He paused. "So...do you think you want to give it a try?"  
  
"I guess we don't have a choice." Monica began to cry. Chandler soothingly rubbed her shoulder.  
  
"It'll be about two weeks until we actually perform the operation." He informed them.  
  
"Two weeks?" Monica shouted. She had seen her mother before the surgery, and she looked an inch from death. If the surgery wasn't succesful, how could she possibly survuve for two more weeks withou tsoem help?  
  
"Trust me, she'll be fine until then. We just need the time to get the paper work because we have to have this type of procedure appproved by the state so they can deem it absolutely necessary. That's how rare it is. We only use it if we absolutely have to because of the risk involved." Monica's eyes filled with fear. "I can assure you, Ms. Bing, we will do everything in our power to help your mother." He tried to clear away the tears with his reassuring words.As soon as he realised his attempt was unsuccesful, he forced a smile at them and left the room. As soon as he was out of sight Monica broke down in Chandler's arms, sobbing.  
  
"Shhhh...it's going to be okay. I promise." He pulled her up by her shoulders and looked into her eyes. She was a wreck. She was wearing an old sweatsuit that she had had on for the past two days. She was afraid to leave her mother's side, afraid she would lose her any minute. Her long dark hair was partailly in a ponytail, while several strands were hanging over her eyes. Her cheeks had been stained with tears of grief. Her face was pale with fear and apprehension. She was so scared she could barely stand without collapsing into a fit of tears. She was weak from not having eating in days, and Chandler felt her trembling in his arms as he held her tightly.  
  
"Oh, God Chandler. What am I going to do?" She tightened her grip around his neck. "I mean...what if..."  
  
"Hey, don't think like that. You have nothing to worry about. Your mom is going to be fine. I know you're scared, but try to concentrate on the positive things. You have all your friends at home waiting for you, and you've got three kids that love you....and you've got me. And you know that I will always be here for you, Mon. No matter what. I will always love you, and when you feel like you have nothing else, I will always be there."   
  
"Thank-you Chandler. Thank-you so much for understanding. I know there is no way I could get through this if it wasn't for you." She kissed him softly. He smiled at her.  
  
"Now what you need to do is come with me down to the cafeteria and get some food. You haven't eaten in two days. And then we are going back to the hotel to get some rest." He instructed her. She felt her sromach growl as it had been starved for the past two days and immediately nodded in agreement of his suggestion.  
  
"But what about..."   
  
"Monica, please. We have already worked this out with Ross. He will stay with her at night, and we will stay during the day. If anything happens, he'll call and we'll be right down." Chandler reassured her.  
  
"Okay."  
  
  
***Later that night, back in their hotel room***  
  
"Oh, it feels so good to be in bed!" Monica sighed as she laid down. "Oh, how are the kids doing? I totally forgot. You talked to Rahcel right?"  
  
"Yeah, she said they're great. She said Blake said his first word today!"He remembered in exitement as he emerged from the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth.  
  
"What?!? Are you serious?" She jumped out of the bed instantaneously with a smile on her face, somethign Chandler had been waiting for days to see from her. "What did he say?" She insisted, wide-eyed with excitemnt.  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh my God! I don't beleieve this!She shouted in astonishment.  
  
"I know, isn't it amazing? Rachel even held him up to the phone so I could hear him. It was so cute!"  
  
"I can't beleive we missed it!" She plopped back down. Ever since he was born she waiting for this moment, and now it was too late. She started to cry silently.  
  
"Oh, Mon. It's not so bad." He put his arm around her when he saw her tears.  
  
"Yes, it is. Our child just spoke his very first word and we weren't there to see it." She whimpered. "This is the kind of stuff parents get on video and watch it when they get old...but us, we'll never have that because we missed it!" She cried. "Soon, he'll be walking, and going to school, and before you know it, he'll be off to college and..." The tears continuously flowed from her eyes.  
  
"College? I think you might be getting ahead of youself."  
  
"I know. I just can't stand to be away from them, and it's only been two days. Who knows how much longer it's going to be." She cried into his shoulder, desperately homesick.  
  
"I know. I miss them too." He embraced her gently, and laid down on the bed with her. Her kissed the top of her head gently. She eventually stopped crying and fell asleep, her head on his chest as he held her keeping a tight, comforting grip around her waist. He tried so hard to be strong for her, but it hurt him nearly as much as it did her. He had always considered Judy to be his mother, since his was hardly ever there for him. He was terrified of what was going to happen. He wanted so much just to fall to his knees and cry and pray to God that everything would turn our okay, but he couldn't do that. He knew that his strength was the only thing keeping Monica together. If it wans't for him comforting her everytime she thought the pain was too much, she wouldbe lost. So he had to stay strong. He had to smile. 


	5. It's Not Your Fault

Mascara flooded in currents down Rachel's face, her hands trembling wildly in fear and guilt as she inserted thrity five cents into the pay phone. As she apprehensively dailed Monica's hotel room number in Chicago, all she could hear were the horrifying sounds that had instilled such tremedous fear in her just moments before; the squealing of the car tires, Sydney's blood-curdling shrieks of agony, and the screaming of the ambulence sirens that came not a moment too soon.  
  
"Hello?" Monica picked up the phone curiously, wondering who could be calling them here.  
  
"Monica!" Rachel shouted in relief.  
  
"Rach, how did you get this number?" Monica inquired before Rachel could get another word in, smiling in relief to hear her friend's voice, having not immediately sensed the suggestion of trouble by her trembling voice.  
  
"That's not important." She shouted, trying to spit out the painful news. "Monica..." She sobbed into the reciver. Monica's delightful grin suddenly transformed into a panic-stricken grimace at Rachel's voice.  
  
"Oh, God, what is it Rachel?" She insisted, intuitively knowing something was wrong as tears engulfed her once sparkling eyes.  
  
"It's Madeleine." She said gravely, covering her mouth in shame. Monica let out a gasp, falling onto the bed, with Chandler nervously at her side, begging with his concerned eyes for information.  
  
"What happened? Is she okay?" Monica shouted in high-pitched sobs, clutching her chest, knowing that something absolutely had to be terribly wrong, otherwise, why would it be so hard ot say? Chandler's eyes widened, barely able to force himself to ignore his temptations to beg Monica as to what was going on.  
  
"Joey was trying to teach her how to ride a bike and Dylan started talking to him and before he knew it, she was in the middle of the street...." She cried.  
  
"In New York City!? She was on her bike in the street in New York City!?" She shouted at the top of her lungs, now desperately fearing for her daughter's life.  
  
"Oh, my God!" Chandler couldn't restrain himself any longer, knowing something was wrong at Monica's panic. She was alwys so together, and now she could barely speak she was so horrified. His face turned white with panic. "What's going on Monica? Are the kids hurt?" He shrieked in fear, springing off of the bed, now more deeply realizing the seriousness of the situation as Monica looked solemnly at him with tears rolling down her cheek.  
  
"Monica, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I was feeding Blake and Joey was helping Dylan and it all happened so fast." Rachel paused to catch her breath, clutching her chest as she peered through a window into the small room where Madeleine lay motionless, while several doctors scrambled about her. Monica barely understand her through both of their sobs.  
  
"Is she okay?" She could barley get the words out through her fear. Her voice was high-pitched and sqeaky through the tears and her face was as white as a sheet. Her breathing was heavy and rapid. She became light-heading with apprehension as she awaited the answer to her question that she was not entirely sure she was prepared for.  
  
"We don't know yet." Monica's eyelids slowly and tightly closed over her blue eyes with those words and yet another tear leaked from her eye. After what was only a few seconds that seemed like hours, Monica's eyes opened once again as she grimly laid herself back down on the bed, seemingly slipping away into a trance. Her eyes glossed over and her skin became clammy, as she absorbed the very situation she had dreaded since the day kids were born. It was any parents worst nightmare to recieve just such a call, and here she was, halfway across the country, helpess to do anything for her daughter, who she now imagined laying on a blood-drenched hospital bed, with doctors surrounding her tiny body, cutting and sewing her up. She felt her heart cry at the thought. Suddenly she awoken from her pensive state at the sounds of Chandler's gasps and sobs. She heard the muffled sound of Rachel's quaking voice through the reciever as Chandler, too began to cry as he found out from Rachel what had happened. He tried to be strong for Monica, he tried so hard, but this was too much.   
  
"What do you mean you don't know?" He insisted mercilessly. "What's happening to my daughter?"He was now just as paniced as Monica due to Rachel's news.  
  
"Chandler I honestly don't know. As soon as I saw her laying there in the middle of the road I ran to a phone and called 911. The next thing I knew she was speeding away in the back of an ambulance. I haven't seen a doctor. I can see her now..." She let out a heartbreaking cry as she once again peered into the room where Sydney lay. "The doctors are working on her now. I don't know what's happening." She cried and almost fell to her knees as she watched. She saw Joey down the hall, consoling Dylan, who was horrified at what he had witnessed, and trying to calm Blake, who was frightnend and crying over all the excitement.  
  
"Oh, Rach. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I'm just so scared." She was shocked as she heard him break down into tears.  
  
"Chandler, she'll be fine. Don't worry. She's got professionals doing everything they can for her, it's going to be just fine." She paused, not sure of her own words as she was a first-hand witness to the horrible accident. She felt horrible about lying to him. She knew more than she said. She knew this was serious. She saw her laying in the street. She saw it, saw it all. But she couldn't tell Chandler and Monica the grim details of what she saw. What purpose would that serve other than to upset them even more, if that was possible. Even if she wanted t , she wasn't sure that she could get the horrible details out.  
  
"If anything, I'm the one that should be sorry. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry Chandler, I'm so sorry." Rachel broke into hysterics at the thought of what she'd done, what she'd let happen.  
  
"Oh, Rach, no. It's not your fault. It was an accident. I don't blame you at all for any of this. I should thank you, Rach. You did evrything exactly right. You did everything you could for her." He tried to hold back the tears. Even through his intense anger and fury, he couldn't blame anyone for this. He knew that wasn't the answer to this. All he could do now was pray. 


End file.
